The results are out on a new survey that gave Kentucky educators the opportunity to weigh in on their work environment.

The Kentucky Board of Education released the results at a recent meeting with school superintendents.

The Takeaway?

There is room for both optimism and improvement that in today's education matters.

The Impact Kentucky survey, administered every two years, gauges working conditions among public school educators.

More than 38,000 participated in this year's survey, giving their input on nine categories, including educating students, professional feedback resources, school leadership, and managing student behavior.

The current survey shows encouragement with all areas of data moving in a positive direction.

The category showing the most improvement emotional well-being and belonging, which increased 7% over the 2022 survey.

But a breakdown of results by group shows teachers responding less favorably than principals and other staff in the category continue to focus on emotional well-being and belonging.

Because those are areas where we see folks are asking for support.

So I think that's a key area.

Another key area, school climate.

According to the survey, more educators believe the overall social and learning climate of their school has improved and will continue to improve.

So this is really an area of celebration for the state because we are seeing notable significance across all topics.

At a recent Kentucky Board of Education meeting, school administrators were encouraged to build on this feeling of optimism and to find more ways to support teachers.

So recognize the importance of working conditions in this context is pivotal and numerous.

Numerous studies have shown that factors such as leadership, support and resource play a critical role in a teacher's decision to stay or leave.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm Toby Gibbs.

The area is showing the least improvement.

Resources educators who responded to the survey said their school needs better technology, more classroom space and more specialists to help students.